MOUNT IDA -- Fishing guides usually downplay expectations so clients won't blame them when fish won't bite.
Shane Goodner doesn't play that way. He talks big, but he delivers.
Goodner, owner of Catch 'Em All Guide Service, treated Ray Tucker and me to an incomparable fishing trip Tuesday on a private stretch of a stream in Montgomery County.
Goodner, who touts himself as "Arkansas' Premier Fishing Guide," specializes in trout fishing trips during the fall and winter below Carpenter Dam at the head of Lake Catherine. In the summer, he also guides wade fishing trips on streams.
He offered none of a guide's usual disclaimers about why we should have been here yesterday. Goodner said our goal was to catch 50 bass in six hours, which caused Tucker and I to trade a raised-eyebrow glance.
Not only that, but Goodner said we had a legitimate chance of catching multiple 5- or 6-pound bass.
Goodner prescribed spinning rigs with rods no longer than 6 feet, preferably with medium-heavy action rods.
The strategy was simple but proven, Goodner said. One of us would throw a buzzbait while the other two trailed with a watermelon/red, 4-inch Zoom Dead Ringer worm on a 1/8-ounce Gambler bullet weight with internal rattles.
"Fish they'll come from all parts of a pool to investigate a buzzbait because it sounds like feeding activity," Goodner said. "As soon as one hits that buzzbait, throw that worm in behind it. There'll usually be several more."
For stream fishing Goodner uses a 1/8-ounce Stanley buzzbait. He removes the factory skirt and has a friend replace it with bucktail.
Goodner said he and David Gaston of Mount Ida perfected the over/under approach through 50 years of friendship.
"Instead of trying to beat everybody else to the hole, you work together so everybody can share in the fun," Goodner said.
While Tucker and I put on our neoprene wading boots, Goodner donned thick knee socks and calf-high snake boots.
"You fish in those?" I asked, astonished.
"You bet I do," Goodner said. "You've got to have maximum protection. They cushion your feet from rocks and keep your boots from filling with sand and gravel, and if a snake bites you, you don't get hurt."
Goodner also fitted Tucker and I with back-supporting belts, as well as a nifty wading belt called Wade Aid. It contains pouches for tackle, an insert for forceps or needlenose pliers and built-in rod holders on the back.
"You don't want to go back and forth tying stuff on," Goodner said. "It wastes time. Just grab the second rod and stay in the zone."
Fishing with Goodner is what I imagine it would have been like to fish with the late Muhammad Ali. He banters frenetically. He boasts grandly. He exhorts, cajoles and chastises. It all contributes to a very festive, jocular atmosphere.
Goodner spent the entire day in a heavyweight trash-talking bout with Tucker. They traded an endless flurry of rhetorical jabs, hooks and haymakers that sometimes made it hard to fish because of all the laughter.
Goodner counts every bass -- and only bass -- on a counter. Sometimes he had to click the counter rapidly, so it was possible to lose track.
"You are allowed to correct the guide," he added, "but you are not allowed to dispute the guide."
Goodner started out as the designated buzzbait man, and he caught a spotted bass on the first cast. I followed up with the soft plastic and caught a little smallmouth bass, which pleased Goodner immensely.
"We don't see many of those in here anymore," Goodner said.
The river has changed a lot over the years, he explained. It used to be much deeper, with clear holes, rocky, graveled bottoms and a lot of wood cover. Now it's fairly shallow and silty.
"There is still an enormous amount of fish in here, but the loss of the deep holes has really cut down on the big fish potential," Goodner said.
We caught a lot of bass in the first hour or so, and the overcast, drizzling weather was conducive to the topwater bite.
I noticed quickly that Goodner didn't set the hook on most of the bass that hit his buzzbait. Instead, he quickly summoned Tucker or me to throw behind him.
There are few things I love more than catching bass on topwaters, so I asked to take over the buzzbait duties. Goodner obliged, and we shifted into overdrive.
Goodner challenged me non-stop to throw into teacup-size openings, and he reveled when I hit them.
"Throw over against that stickup, Big Daddy," he said. "You'll catch one there, I guarantee it."
"How do you know where all these fish will be?" Tucker asked.
"Fifty years of fishing down here will do that," Goodner answered.
Tucker eventually grew tired of the soft plastic and asked to throw a buzzbait, too. We started catching doubles and triples, and we hit the 50-bass mark early.
"We can take out here, or we can go up two more holes," Goodner said. "It'll take us 45 minutes, max."
"Let's go for seventy-five!" Tucker said
"Seventy-five is pushing it, Mr. Ray," Goodner said. "We might can get to sixty."
We hit 60, and then 65, and then 70. At the end of the "last" hole Tucker pressed harder for 75.
Goodner took the bait.
"We can take out here, or we can go up one more hole around that bend," he said. "It'll take us 30 minutes, max."
It's a big fish hole where a 6-pounder is possible, Goodner said. The best chances are at the top of the hole against the side of a big log.
We hit 75 despite missing some fish at the bottom of the pool, but the Goodner's counter kept climbing.
I got no takers against the log, so I started smacking it off the side of the log. Whap, plop, buzz!
That provoked the fish out of their lethargy. I caught two big spotted bass while Tucker and Goodner cleaned up the stragglers.
For the final tally I counted 81. Goodner and Tucker counted 83. The latter number was official.
"You can correct the guide," Goodner reminded, "but you're not allowed to dispute the guide."
Sports on 10/08/2017